If you do decide on a hex beam and have not already considered homebrewing one,they are easy,inexpensive and fun to make.My 1st one cost me nothing(parts on hand)and is my semi portable unit,my 2nd one cost me about $93.00.Both are 20m mono band only.GL with your final choice. Anchors aweigh Jim

If the hex is mounted with the hub below the roof line it is pretty much unnoticablefrom the street side. However the next door neighbors will have a good view. Moralis to be a good neighbor as that will help eleminate complaints.

The NA4RR copy of the HEX is about $400.http://na4rr.com/The pictures are interesting...and light enough for a push-up mast and rotor.

I do not know if you feel like wrestling with a push-up mast, but that would help to make your installation a little less visible. It would be a waste of your time to start painting anything. At 30 or so feet high, and feet from the nearest neighbor, it should not be an eye-sore. How strict is your HOA?? Or are you testing for neighbor reaction that you are a Ham op?Remember the fear of RFI that neighbors automatically have when they see an antenna in the air. They know that most folks are using cable TV or Sat TV these days.If you go with a HEX and push-up mast,,,,do not even connect it to your station...Leave the coax and the connector coiled outside your shack for a few weeks and see what happens.Fred

Was thinking about one way to make a hexbeam antenna a bit more "stealthy" for those living in an HOA community [with a little catch of course].

One could turn the hexbeam upside-down and mount it on a mast. Then cover it with some type of cloth/canvas. So it looked like a typical patio "umbrella". Maybe even place a little patio table and some chairs around the bottom where the mast touches the ground.

Now of course one couldn't raise the antenna up too high, or it would look disingenuous. People would know something was fishy.And perhaps by turning the antenna upside-down the RF radiation pattern would be a changed a bit. But one could model it with EZNEC or something to find out...

I get away with a hex beam on a crank up (military surplus ) tower that I can leave at 8 feet when not in use. I have everything painted green and located in a visually complex area. My neighbors can see it but no one has complained. If I needed to be more stealthy I would use a rotatable dipole on a push up, tilt over mast. That would strongly reduce the visibility. The hex beam only has about 3-4 dB gain on the rotatable dipole... 1/2 an S-unit.

The goal is not to make it invisible. The goal is to make it unobtrusive. Flat black has worked well for me. Esp because I have trees behind it. Not invisible, but it does not pull the eye to it like reflective copper or white.

Paul, you might not think our comments are helpful but what we're saying is an antenna like you want is not going to pass anyHOA inspection. So be prepared to take down your expensive new antenna. You might install a cheap mock antenna at that height and see what happens.

I put a vertical on my roof and within 24 hours I was contacted by the HOA to remove it. I ended up with a stealthy ground mounted screwdriver antenna with the 5' base assembly disguised as a birdhouse support. Various whips were attached depending on the band and time of day. Even that was not completely stealthy and the neighbors knew what it was but the HOA folks who patrol monthly looking for violation did not recognize it for what it was. By the way, it worked great on 80-10 meters with a radiation efficiency of a healthy 50% on 80 meters and nearly 100% on 40-10 meters. It even worked on 160 meters where I worked all continents with it.

The goal is not to make it invisible. The goal is to make it unobtrusive. Flat black has worked well for me. Esp because I have trees behind it. Not invisible, but it does not pull the eye to it like reflective copper or white.

Sorry to give you the bad news but there is absolutely nothing "stealthy" about putting up a giant rotary clothesline sticking up in the air with a bunch of wires hanging on it as far as your neighbors are concerned. Regardless what color it's painted, its still going to be there.

Hex beams work, they are relatively inexpensive, and can easily be home brewed. However, IMO, that is where they stop. They are not stealthy in any sense of the word unless you are hiding it behind a building. I think in a small multiband yagi looks better than a hex beam. If you think you can get away with hex, then a yagi should be easy. Some camo paint and it will be better than an similarly painted hex.

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